Real-World Cases

Computer Crime Case F: Intellectual Property Theft

A large tier one supplier suspected a foreign engineer of theft of intellectual property. The supplier had learned that an international competitor was using a patented process, developed by the client, to bring competing product to the US market. Counsel for the supplier called a computer forensic consulting firm to examine the engineer’s PDA and laptop hard drive.

Despite a parallel federal investigation, federal law enforcement did not have sufficient resources to conduct the examination given their focus on homeland security. When the forensic examination of the laptop and PDA were complete, the results were delivered to the special agent (FBI) in charge of the criminal case. The analysis produced email correspondence, copies of the patented process and other incriminating data. The criminal charges resulted in a conviction of an engineer and a second employee.